Ring with detachable ornament having uncovered inner face

ABSTRACT

A finger ring having a relatively rigid but somewhat resilient shank of generally circular configuration and having spaced apart ends, said ends each having a housing secured thereto, said housings having oppositely disposed faces in spaced relation to each other and located substantially exteriorly of the circle defined by the shank, said faces having depressions therein for snap-receiving an ornamental member therebetween, whereby said ornamental member may be easily assembled and disassembled for purposes of interchangeability.

Unite States Patent Willner RING WITH DETACHABLE ORNAMENT HAVING UNCOVERED INNER FACE [72] Inventor: Robert Willner, 2 Cherry Lane, Bristol, R.l. 02809 22 Filed: Feb.8, 1971 211 Appl.No.:ll3,5l3

[52] US. Cl. ..63/l5.6, 63/29 R [5 1] Int. Cl. ..A44c 9/02, A440 17/02 [58] Field of Search ..63/29 R [5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,028,284 l/l936 Jackson ..63/29 R X D203,792 2/l966 Adams ..63/29 R UX [451 Sept. 26, 1972 467,929 2/1892 Fink ..63/29 R Primary ExaminerF. Barry Shay Attorney-Salter & Michaelson 5 7] ABSTRACT A finger ring having a relatively rigid but somewhat resilient shank of generally circular configuration and having spaced apart ends, said ends each having a housing secured thereto, said housings having oppositely disposed faces in spaced relation to each other and located substantially exteriorly of the circle defined by the shank, said faces having depressions therein for snap-receiving an ornamental member therebetween, whereby said ornamental member may be easily assembled and disassembled for purposes of interchangeability.

3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEUSP2B 1912 F l G. I

FIG.3

INVENTOR Rm E. N

n W w T R E B O R 6 I ATTORNEYS RING WITH DETACHABLE ORNAMENT HAVING UNCOVERED INNER FACE BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Although the broad idea of providing finger rings with structural means for permitting the ornamental portion of the ring to be readily assembled and disassembled for purposes of interchangeability is old and 1 well-known in the art, the prior approaches to this problem have for the most part utilized relatively sophisticated and intricate mounting means, such as magnetic means, threaded attachments, spring loaded retainers, etc. Not only do removable mounting means of this type tend to make the resultant ring relatively expensive, but also mechanical means of this type were prone to malfunction, particularly after repeated assembly and disassembly of the ornamental member.

The present invention overcomes these prior art problems by providing a finger ring that actually involves no extra mechanical parts for permitting removability of the ornament and which therefore is exceedingly simple in operation. Furthermore, the removability feature of the present invention imparts an attractive and unique appearance to the finished ring.

It is therefore an object of this invention to'provide a finger ring having novel and unique means for removably mounting an ornamental portion of the'ring whereby said ornamental portion may easily and conveniently be assembled and disassembled for purposes of interchangeability. I

Another object is the provision of a finger ring of the character described having a minimum number of mechanical parts for effecting removability of the ornamental portion, whereby the ring is economically feasible to manufacture.

Another object is the provision of a finger ring of the character described wherein no special tools or intricate manipulation is required to assemble and disassemble the ornamental portion, but rather said assembly and disassembly can be effected most simply and expeditiously.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention shall become apparent as the description thereof proceeds-when considered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings which illustrate the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the present in- DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to the drawings, a finger ring constructed in accordance with my invention is shown generally at 10, said finger ring comprising a shank member 12, housings l4, and an ornamental member 16.

The shank 12 is, of generally circular configuration but has spaced'apart ends 18, as shown most clearly in FIG. 3. Preferably, the ends 18 are spaced from each other by a distance equal to approximately 45 of the circle defined by the shank 12. It is further important to note that the shank 12 is of a relatively rigid material, such as hard brass or the like, but at the same time is spring tempered so that if a sufficient spreading action is imparted to the ends 18, the distance between the 0 said ends will increase, but upon release of the spreading action, the shank will return to its normal, unstressed position.

As will be seen most clearly in FIG. 3, the housings 14 are each a solid mass of material and preferably are cast right on to the end portions of the shank 12. Hence, the housings 14 may be a cast metal, such as white metal, or any other material which readily lends itself to casting. The housings 14 are preferably identical to each other and may haveany suitable ornamental engraving or other embelishment on their outer surface. Likewise, the specific configuration of the housings 14 is not critical, although the housings completely surround their respective shank portions and terminate in oppositely disposed faces 20 that are in spaced relation to each other. The faces 20 each have a concave depression 22 therein, which depressions cooperate to snap-receive the ornamental member 16. Preferably the depressions 22 are of generally circular configuration and the ornamental member 16 is preferably in the form of an ornamental ball.

It will be understood that the diameter of the ball 16 is such that the ball will be resiliently and frictionally maintained between'the housings 14 and more specifically, within the aforesaid depressions 22. If, however, it is desired to remove the ball 16 and replace it with an ornamental member of a different color, or different surface design, it is simply necessary to grasp the ball 16 between ones fingers and forceably remove it from its resilient seat, it being apparent that as the ball 16 is removed, the shank l2 and the housings 14 will spring outwardly sufficiently to permit removal of the ball. By the same token, the reverse procedure is employed when it is desired to assemble a ball 16 within the ring 10, it being obvious that it is only necessary to force the ball inwardly between the housings 14 until the ball snap-seats in the depressions 22. The relative rigidity of the shank 12 functions to prevent inadvertant removal of the ball 16 from its assembled position, and it has been found that good results are obtained where the opposite ends 24 of housings 14 terminate as substantially diametrically opposed points on the shank 12.

In order to permit the ring 10 to fit different size fingers, an inner adjustable shank 26 is provided. More specifically, shank 12 is grooved along its inner surface as at 28 and the shank 26 fits snugly within said groove and is secured to shank 12 at a point substantially diametrically opposite to the ornament 16, such as the point 30 shown in FIG. 3. The securement of shank 26 to shank 12 at this point may be by any suitable means, such as soldering or the like. The shank 26 is of resilient stock and has spaced apart ends 32 whereby the shank 26 will automatically size itself to the wearers finger, all in a manner well-known in the art. It will be understood, however, that the ring 10 could be successfully used without the inner adjustable shank 26, although the ring would then lack the adjustability feature just described.

It is important to note that the opposed faces of the housings 14 are for the most part located exteriorally of the circle defined by shank 12 so that the? necessary to manually spread the ring shank, since the insertion and removal of the ornamental member, will, in effect, result in a camming action'which automatically results in the required spreading of the ring shank.

While there is shown and described herein certain specific structure embodying the invention, it will be manifest to those skilled in the art that various modifications and rearrangements of the parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the underlying inventive concept and that the same is not limited to the particular forms herein shown and described.

What is claimed is:

1. A finger ring comprising a relatively rigid but yet resilient shank member, said shank member being generally of circular configuration and having spacedapart end portions, separate housing members secured to each said end portion, said housing members each comprising a solid mass of material, said end portions being received within their respective housing members in embedded relation, said housing members havin g oppositely disposed faces extending outwardly from the circle defined by saidushank member and each face having a generally circular concave depression therein, and a generally spherical ornamental member snap received between said faces and within said depressions, said faces including means cooperating with said ornamental member whereby the latter may be removed and replaced by simply pulling it from or pushing it into position while said ring remains on the finger of y the wearer, the resilience of said shank member permitting said removal'and replacement so as to permit quick-interchangeability of said ornamental members, the spacing between said faces causing the inner surface of saidornamental member to be uncovered. I

- 2. In the finger ring of claim 1, said cooperating means comprising a diverging of said oppositely disposed faces with respect to each other, whereby the spacing between said faces at their outer end is greater than the spacing between said faces at their inner end.

3. A finger ring comprising a relatively rigid but'yet resilient shank member, said shank member being generally of circular configuration and having spacedapart end portions, separate housing members secured to each said end portion, said housing members each comprising a solid mass of material, said end portions being received within their respective housing members in embedded relation, said housing members having oppositely disposed faces extending outwardly from the circle defined by said shank member and each face having a generally circular concave depression therein,

and a generally spherical ornamental member snapreceived between said faces and within said depressions, whereby'the resilience of said shank member permits said ornamental member to be readily inserted and removed from between said faces so as to permit quick interchangeability of said ornamental members, the combination further comprising an inner relatively resilient shank secured to said first shank member at a point on the inner surface thereof substantially diametrically opposed from said ornamental member, but otherwise being free to encircle the wearer's finger, said inner shank having end portions spaced apart approximately the same distance as the spacing between said oppositely disposed faces. 

1. A finger ring comprising a relatively rigid but yet resilient shank member, said shank member being generally of circular configuration and having spaced-apart end portions, separate housing members secured to each said end portion, said housing members each comprising a solid mass of material, said end portions being received within their respective housing members in embedded relation, said housing members having oppositely disposed faces extending outwardly from the circle defined by said shank member and each face having a generally circular concave depression therein, and a generally spherical ornamental member snap received between said faces and within said depressions, said faces including means cooperating with said ornamental member whereby the latter may be removed and replaced by simply pulling it from or pushing it into position while said ring remains on the finger of the wearer, the resilience of said shank member permitting said removal and replacement so as to permit quick interchangeability of said ornamental members, the spacing between said faces causing the inner surface of said ornamental member to be uncovered.
 2. In the finger ring of claim 1, said cooperating means comprising a diverging of said oppositely disposed faces with respect to each other, whereby the spacing between said faces at their outer end is greater than the spacing between said faces at their inner end.
 3. A finger ring comprising a relatively rigid but yet resilient shank member, said shank member being generally of circular configuration and having spaced-apart end portions, separate housing members secured to each said end portion, said housing members each comprising a solid mass of material, said end portions being received within their respective housing members in embedded relation, said housing members having oppositely disposed faces extending outwardly from the circle defined by said shank member and each face having a generally circular concave depression therein, and a generally spherical ornamental member snap-received between said faces and within said depressions, whereby the resilience of said shank member permits said ornamental member to be readily inserted and removed from between said faces so as to permit quick interchangeability of said ornamental members, the combination further comprising an inner relatively resilient shank secured to said first shank member at a point on the inner surface thereof substantially diametrically opposed from said ornamental member, but otherwise being free to encircle the wearer''s finger, said inner shank having end portions spaced apart approximately the same distance as the spacing between said oppositely disposed faces. 